[TusharK]

The Datsun GO and GO+ are now available with Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC). The Datsun GO also gets a new colour option called Vivid Blue.



VDC is an electronic stability control system that uses sensors to monitor wheel speed, steering wheel position and lateral acceleration. Datsun claims that the system assists the driver during understeer or oversteer. Both the Datsun GO and GO+ are also equipped with ABS with EBD, brake assist and traction control.



The Datsun GO and GO+ are powered by a 1.2-litre, 3-cylinder petrol engine that produces 67 BHP @ 5,000 rpm and 104 Nm @ 4,000 rpm and is mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox.



Link to Team-BHP News

[chaotic]

Talk about setting cat among the pigeons!
With the low sales/image of the brand, it may not be very useful by itself; but it will surely shine an unflattering light on the competition which has reserved such tech for the premium variant of premium vehicles!! So many of the 10-20 Lakh vehicles/variants do not offer it!
Great move, hope others follow.

[greenhorn]

Good initiative, but I am not sure of it's effectiveness in the absence of passive safety features like properly thick sheet metal!
Let's hope it does better in the next NCAP test, and does better than 1 star

[tarik.arora]

A welcome move by Datsun. Although their sales have crashed in the recent past with GO and GO+ only managing 600-700 units a month (combined). They need to do something about the falling brand. VDC was seriously not required. Instead, the money could have been used for better purposes.

Also, GO and GO+ now get a new 7-inch touchscreen system which my sources say that is a low cost system. Remember when the face lift was launched, a touch system was already introduced. The new system is low cost and hence low performance (my assumption).

[GTO]

*Rubbing eyes in disbelief*. Hat's off, Datsun . Have never been a fan of the brand, its cars or their approach to India, but this one wins brownie points & deserves an applause.

The cheapest car in India with ESP / ESC? You bet. What's more, it only takes one manufacturer to take the lead, before a 2nd follows....then the rest of the herd. I look forward to a day in the not-so-distant future when ESP is standard on all Indian cars.

Maruti should be ashamed of itself for never being first (or anywhere close) in any safety initiative.

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Good initiative, but I am not sure of it's effectiveness in the absence of passive safety features like properly thick sheet metal!

I disagree as ESP is indeed very effective & a proven life-saver. It helps you avoid an accident in the first place.

[motorworks]

Something does not add up. Nissan would have rather added a much bigger touch screen and then made a huge campaign around it.

Whereas ESP is not a great marketing talking point for them. Just a noob question, would adding the ESP mean slightly better results during a crash test? Since Tata and Mahindra have been advertising their results, is Nissan trying something like damage limitation?

If its not the above, then full credit to Nissan for adding the ESP. However, They should have just made a better built car from day one.

[Reinhard]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Good initiative, but I am not sure of it's effectiveness in the absence of passive safety features like properly thick sheet metal!

Ahem...Ahem...Considering the segment of this car is dominated in sales by ALTO800, ALTOK10, CELERIO, WAGONR which are made with sheet metal that is just a step away from becoming transparent, full marks to DATSUN for showing the guts to try a fight & to give safety to consumers.

I own a pretty recently bought AltoK10 AMT and I am ready to blindly bet that the GO/GO+ have sheet metal better & thicker than the "car" I have.

I hope the market reciprocates & actually goes for safety over "kitna deti hai".
The real Achilles' heel for DATSUN/NISSAN is not the wafer thin sheet metal. Its the wafer thin sales & service network. That's what keeps the consumers away.

Of course - its always good to get a strongly built car (and that's why my primary car remains an antique Vista even after 8.5 years) - that means a car that costs more and more. Nobody will buy a GO/GO+ at the price of a compact sedan or so if its built with strong sheet metals. People will instead buy thin sheet metal DZIRE for the same price.

India has a very unique & interesting car market. It is sensitive to price, segmentation, status, fuel efficiency, aspiration value, resale value, insurance premiums. Everything EXCEPT safety features.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

Good initiative, but I am not sure of it's effectiveness in the absence of passive safety features like properly thick sheet metal!

The segment is full of cars with thin sheet metal, but doing something on accident avoidance definitely deserve a special mention. For me, this is one of the most important passive safety feature to be present in a car.

Originally Posted by motorworks

Something does not add up. Nissan would have rather added a much bigger touch screen and then made a huge campaign around it.
Whereas ESP is not a great marketing talking point for them.

Happy that they did not prioritise a touch screen or some other fancy features over this.

Originally Posted by motorworks

Just a noob question, would adding the ESP mean slightly better results during a crash test? Since Tata and Mahindra have been advertising their results, is Nissan trying something like damage limitation?

They may get some extra points on crash ratings, but not much on crash tests as such. ESP is more about avoiding accident rather than mitigating accident impact.

[Equus]

Cant believe it either! Such a sweet news! Kudos to Datsun! Hope Nissan and Renault follow suit right away?!



Its such a crucial feature - all cars in Europe are mandated to have ESP. One of the major reasons I bought my Duster AMD was due to ESP!